Secrets in the soil: how earth below us might help fight climate change
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- There's an unsung hero in the fight against climate change, one that gets walked over every day: soil.
It filters our water, grows our plants, and traps 10 times more carbon than Earth's atmosphere.
Brand-new research from scientists at Northwestern University looks at exactly how soil stores carbon – an important step in advancing climate solutions in the Chicago area and even across the world.
According to Climate Central, if it weren't for soil absorbing excess carbon from human's fossil fuel emissions each year, we'd see even more warming than we already have.
So, we got our hands dirty to learn more.
Dirt is about as basic and fundamental as it gets. But under a microscope at a lab at Northwestern University, something we think of as simple becomes much more complex.
Also, researchers do not like the word "dirt."
"When you use the word 'dirt,' it sounds like something that is useless," said Ludmilla Aristilde, who leads a research group to probe the mechanisms of environmental organic processes. "I like to use the word 'soil,' as this complex microcosm of different things that will sustain life."
Through the lab's research, soil could be a change maker.
"When you read about climate change and you read about what is going to happen to the ecosystem, then soil is a big part of that," said Aristilde, "because soil is one of the major reservoirs of carbon on our planet."
The lab's work is supported by the National Science Foundation. Aristilde's research team has just published the most comprehensive study of carbon types on the planet – carbon, like carbon dioxide, in soil.
"We wanted to know – can it get trapped there, and what can actually facilitate the trapping?" said Aristilde. "How we can say, OK, we know these type of minerals are going to be much more advantageous as far as trapping this type of carbon? I think that's where my research is informing."
The study from Aristilde's lab explains how soil traps plant-based carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon can get trapped in soil for days and years – where it is sequestered from entering the atmosphere – or it can feed microbes that respire carbon dioxide, fueling the warming environment.
The study figured out the factors that could tip plant-based organic matter into one of those two directions. Aristilde's team examined the interactions between organic carbon biomolecules and a type of clay minerals known for trapping organic matter in soil.
They found electrostatic charges, structural features of carbon molecules, metals in the soil, and competition among different molecules are all factors in whether carbon ends up getting trapped or released.
The research Aristilde's team conducts in a lab in Evanston is applicable across the globe.
"I grew up in Haiti and my dad was a farmer so my interest in soil and agricultural soil started way back," said Aristilde. "The information we are gathering now? It's definitely going to inform other soils around the world."
The team's findings could help researchers predict which soil chemistries are best at trapping carbon – keeping it out of the atmosphere, and ultimately leading to solutions to slowing human-caused climate change.
"All these things are going to contribute to finding sustainable solutions for dealing with this complex problem that is climate change," said Aristilde. "We are really interested in trying to understand what is going to happen to our ecosystem, what is going to happen to our soil, what's going to happen to our rivers, what's going to happen to us – in response to climate change."
The next step is searching for solutions.
"There are engineering solutions we can take, but there are also natural solutions we can take," said Aristilde, "so there's huge interest in trying to use just nature-based solutions."
"If you understand the inside of the instrument or the inside of the machine, you can figure out how to fix it," Aristilde said. "That's what we do."
CBS 2 brought Aristilde's lab research to Chicago's Climate and Environmental Justice Initiatives and a soil survey leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
CBS 2 was awaiting a response late Thursday.